City to look again at Mills

SANDUSKY — The former Mills Elementary School building remains a possible site for a new rec center as city staff develop programming that a center will offer for city commission to consider. "We'll make a recommendation to all of you and then you can weigh in and tell us what you want to do," city manager John Orzech told commissioners on Monday. Programming decisions — including where the city rec department will be headquartered and whether current programming will be moved from Mills school to the new center — will determine how big a structure will need to be. City commissioner Kate Vargo said it's important for the city to stay on budget and develop the best programming possible. "We will have to all work together to come up with the best opportunity to have the most programming for the most kids and community members to have the best access to," she told Orzech. Orzech said a recommendation on programming should be ready to review within about six weeks, or by the end of October. He's been meeting with rec staff to review the programming options, he said. City commissioner Jeff Krabill previously said that the city should again closely examined whether Mills school is the better choice for a rec center. On Tuesday, he suggested the city build out a comparative look at costs for locating a rec center at Mills or building a new structure on the old American Crayon factory site off Hayes Avenue (Ohio 4) at the rail overpass. A study the city paid for last year suggested costs could outstrip available funding for construction of a new center, however, prompting the suggestions that the Mills school property be looked at again. The school building was built in 1953 and is leased by the city from the school district. The current lease expires next April. There's been some discussion but no decisions about the building's future and how it will be used after a new rec center is built. A city action plan for the south side suggested it could be converted to senior housing, serve as a senior center or be a community house. City commissioner Steve Poggiali suggested weeks ago that the city consider partnering with the school district on a more permanent basis by keeping the Mills school property and programming. Krabill also said it's important to build on the successes there have been at Mills school. "We want to do a full youth program wherever we end up," Krabill said. "We don't want to lose that programming. That's the core of it." The rec department moved to Mills school in 2022, after youth program supervisor Tondra Frisby pushed for a permanent home for the rec department's out-of-school programming for kids. The rec programming at Mills is the most successful outreach the rec department has, with consistent enrollment of between 65 and 100 kids during most of the school year and summer break camps. The Rec Department at Mills also provides yoga classes, culinary, art, dance and sports programming. The 36,800-square-foot building sits on 3.8 acres and has 65 parking spaces. It includes a gym that also serves as an auditorium, a commercial kitchen and large classrooms used for specialized programming, including a reading and homework room and other specialty rooms. The school building is directly across the street from the city-owned Mills Street golf course. Krabill said another reason for a second look at Mills is the success the city had converting the former city hall complex at 222 Meigs St. "With the new justice center we got 40% more building at 40% reduced cost," Krabill said. "We should definitely look at that model again." The new city Justice Center, which is set to officially open soon, became the consensus site choice for that project after other options were considered, including the former American Crayon site. One problem with the American Crayon property is it would require about $1 million or more in site preparation work before any construction could start. The city's plan is to use admissions and parking tax money it collects from Cedar Point to pay for construction of a rec center. Up to $750,000 annually is earmarked from the visitors taxes for 20 years, or a $15 million total. Subtracting prep work and loan costs, the available amount for construction has been pegged at about $11 million, although there is some cushion since that money has been being collected for the last three years, already. Voters also approved a small property tax last year that will generate about $700,000 annually to operate a rec center, funding that is in addition to the city's current recreation department operating budget. That money started being collected this year. The earliest possible date for when a new center could open has been estimated to be 2026.